Potato Leek Soup, with Pan Roasted Garlic, Wine, and Bacon

Potato Leek Soup, with Pan Roasted Garlic, Wine, and Bacon

So Lynne and I went to a totally cool winter Farmers Market, at the old Velvet Mill in Stonington, Connecticut. ( I HIGHLY recommend this if you live here – everything from fresh local meat, eggs, produce, sauces, jellies, jams, artwork….. a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.) We picked up some fresh, organic sweet leeks, and a loaf of fresh sour dough bread…. And I thought…. Well – what else besides potato leek soup? We also picked up a bottle of green curry pineapple satay hot sauce from Dragon’s Blood Elixir hot sauce – dragonsbloodelixir.com. This guy had awesome hot sauces – I really liked the sweet potato hot sauce! I had Lynne try some – forgetting that her tolerance for heat is infinitely lower than mine…… oops) We had the grand daughter with us – no I didn’t have her try any! It was a nice morning for sure! Anyway… the soup.

Most tater soup recipes are pretty similar – potato’s, celery, thyme, chicken stock, and usually cream. I thought I would mix it up a bit. No cream, a little white wine for some acidity, some roasted garlic, and …. Of course …. BACON. I mean what else goes with potatoes? If I could have thrown some eggs in I would have! This soup is “souper” simple to make – takes about 20 minutes of prep, then about 40 minutes of simmering. A note about the leeks – slice them up, and place in a bowl of cold water – swish around every few minutes to clean the sand out of them…. Otherwise your soup will be very gritty.

6 cups chicken stock ( I cheated and used store bought instead of home made…. Didn’t feel like defrosting it)

2 cups water ( you may need to add more as the soup simmers)

½ cup dry white wine ( Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio are fine – do NOT use a sweet wine like Riesling)

2 – 3 lbs potatoes, peeled, and diced into ½ inch ish pieces

4 slices cooked bacon chopped rough ( 2 tbs reserved for garnish)

¼ cup fresh parsley

1 tsp thyme

Pinch red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1)Slice the leeks, and soak as instructed. Peel potato’s and place in a bowl of water to keep from oxidizing.

2)In a small sauté pan, add butter and garlic. Sauté until garlic starts to brown – DON’T burn it!. Drain leeks, add to pan with celery. Sauté for about 10 minutes until starting to soften.

3)In a medium saucepan, add broth, water, wine, salt pepper, thyme, bacon and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Add leeks and garlic before this comes to a boil. Simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until potatoes are soft and falling apart. You may need to add water as the potatoes absorb liquid.

4)Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth. You can use a blender to do this, but only put fill about ½ blender at a time, and CAREFULLY pulse at a low speed to blend. If using a blender, please be CAREFUL!! Hot liquids have a tendency to explode out of the top if you just crank away at high speed.